Autobiography of Liza Goddard

Liza Goddard

Description

Liza Goddard is one of the country's best loved and hardest working actresses, but few people know the real woman behind the 'dizzy blonde' image. In this much-anticipated autobiography, Liza talks about her work, her loves and the real-life dramas that have shaped her as a woman and an actress. The book charts her early life in England and follows her to Australia, where her beloved father played a key role in helping to set up the country's fledgling television industry. As a young actress, Liza was cast in the long-running children's drama series, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo. She later returned to England, where she appeared in a host of classic TV series, including Pig In The Middle, The Brothers, Bergerac, Dr Who and Midsomer Murders. Liza talks about her working relationship with Alan Ayckbourn and explains how a planned move to America failed to materialise. Find out how Liza got together with her first husband, actor Colin Baker on the set of The Brothers, why her marriage to '70s rocker Alvin Stardust failed and how she eventually found true love with producer David Cobham. Liza also reveals the truth about her alleged affair with Bergerac star John Nettles, and reveals how she successfully sued a tabloid newspaper over the allegations. She describes her courageous battle against breast cancer and reveals how beating the disease has given her a new perspective on life. Liza explains why animals continue to play an important part in her life and recounts some hilarious stories about the assortment of creatures that have featured in her life. A warts and all account from one of Britain's most popular actresses, Working With Children And Animals will have you laughing and crying in equal measure.

Sujets

• Television

Informations

• Publié par: Andrews UK
• Date de parution: 12 mai 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781908382030
• Langue: English

Extrait

Title Page


WORKING WITH CHILDREN AND ANIMALS

LIZA GODDARD
WITH DEREK CLEMENTS

FOREWORD BY SUSAN JAMESON

I dedicate this book to Adelaide and Oscar, with all my love



Publisher Information

APEX PUBLISHING LTD
Apex Publishing Ltd PO Box 7086, Clacton on Sea,
Essex, CO15 5WN
www.apexpublishing.co.uk

Digital Edition converted and published
by Andrews UK Limited 2011
www.andrewsuk.com

Copyright © 2011 by Liza Goddard and Derek Clements The author has asserted their moral rights British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition, that no part of this book is to be reproduced, in any shape or form. Or by way of trade, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser, without prior permission of the copyright holder.

Cover photos: Francis Loney
Publishers Note: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Apex Publishing Ltd

Copyright: Every attempt has been made to contact the relevant copyright holders, Apex Publishing Ltd would be grateful if the appropriate people contact us at: [e-mail]
Foreword


Liza Goddard is one of my best mates. And, looking back, that seems to have given her the right to do what lots of people do to mates – drop me in it on a regular basis!
She’s found dogs that apparently ’only I can save’, she’s rescued ponies with problems and palmed them off on me, she’s dragged me off to do weird shows in far-flung places at ungodly hours, she’s co-opted me onto charity committees and only told me afterwards – and now she’s asked me to write this foreword!
Could this be her first serious error in our 35year friendship? Maybe she thought I’d say a lot of typical luvvy things about her? About how gorgeous she is, how brilliant, how tough, how talented? Perhaps she thought I’d harp on about her boundless energy, and her irritatingly youthful appearance? (She must have a picture in the attic). Maybe I’d add that she’s funny, and kind, a loyal friend, a bit of an intellectual and a word puzzle champion?
She gave me the chance to say all that, but why on earth should I?
Just cos it’s true there’s no need to go on about it.
She’ll probably do all that in this book. Enjoy!

Susan Jameson




Prologue
In the beginning


“I keep thinking that I will wake up one day and find it has all been a dream.”

For as long as I can remember, all that I ever wanted to do was act.
It may have had something to do with the fact that I made my stage debut at Farnham Rep at the age of 18 months, as the infant Queen Elizabeth in The Merry Wives of Windsor . This, of course, was a performance that I knew nothing about. Or it could be because I was thrown into the limelight by my father, who worked for the BBC, when the director of one series he was working on was looking for children – Dad said that he had two daughters. My sister hated it, I loved it, and so a dream was born, and from that moment I knew it was what I wanted to do with my life.
I spent every waking moment dreaming of being on stage, and was always the first one to volunteer for school plays and musicals. Then, after pestering my parents nonstop, I was sent to drama school, where I studied with the likes of Nigel Havers, Susie Blake and Jane Seymour.
Since those days, I have been fortunate enough to work with some great classical, film, TV and comedy actors – the likes of Richard Burton, Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Kenneth More, Joan Plowright, Vanessa Redgrave, Coral Browne, Dick Emery, David Jason, Nigel Planer, Susan Jameson, James Bolam, George Cole, Dennis Waterman, Robert Powell, John Nettles, Jimmy Edwards and Julian Fellowes.
I have appeared in some of Britain’s most iconic TV series, including The Brothers , Take Three Girls and Dr Who . And, for a while, I even had my own little series on television – what a thrill that was. For reasons that I have never quite been able to fathom, much of my career has involved children’s programmes, and I have loved every single moment of that too.
I even thought for a brief moment back there that I might be on the brink of making the big time in America. The salary they were talking about was like listening to somebody reel off their telephone number. It didn’t work out in the end, but I have absolutely no regrets, especially when I see just how neurotic some so-called American stars are – that could have been me. It really could.
Then there was pantomime. Have you any idea how much hard work is involved, and how exhausting it all is? And have you any idea what a sheer joy it is to do? To see the faces of hundreds of young children light up or laugh at a corny joke makes it all worthwhile. Gloriously so.
I have been married to former Dr Who Colin Baker and to 1970s’ pop superstar Alvin Stardust, and I have two wonderful children, Thom and Sophie. And, eventually, I found the right man in David Cobham, who has been by my side through some pretty traumatic times.
More recently, my life has been dominated by Alan Ayckbourn, Britain’s greatest living playwright, and perhaps the best there has ever been. I really don’t know what I did to win his favour, but it would appear that he has a soft spot for me, and he tells me that I am a better actress than I believe I am.
There have been some dark days too – none more so than when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and was told that both my breasts would have to be removed. It was a tough time, but I battled through it all and came out the other side. My beloved husband has also fought his own health battles, but he, too, remains to tell the tale, and one of the best things about it all was that I got to work with him on several shows.
Like everybody else, I have made mistakes and I have regrets but, on the whole, I have had a very rewarding adventure, and one of the most important lessons I have learnt is that we must all live every day of our lives to the full, and try to enjoy it because you never know what is around the corner.
I have been blessed in so many ways, working almost nonstop throughout my career. I keep thinking that I will wake up one day and find it has all been a dream, or that somebody will find me out, and I will never work again. But, so far, it hasn’t happened.
And do you know what? I owe it all to a kangaroo.
They say that you should never work with children and animals, but I seem to have spent my entire career doing precisely that. It all started with a kangaroo called Skippy. Or, more accurately, it all started with a whole host of kangaroos, none of which were actually called Skippy.
So how does a young English girl end up being cast in what became arguably the most popular Australian TV series of all time? Yes, I know that there might be some of you who will point to Neighbours , but I stand my ground, notwithstanding the fact that Neighbours gave us the likes of Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue.
Skippy put kangaroos on the map! And me too...



Finding My Feet


“This is for me. This is what I want to do. I want to become an actress like
Hayley Mills.”

I was born in Smethwick on 20 January, 1950, in the same nursing home as Julie Walters. My mother, Claire Frances Wyton, came from Smethwick. She would deny it but then again, she suffers from dementia and would deny most things. My father was David Michael Goddard.
My parents married six months after I was born in 1950. Nobody would bat an eyelid about such a thing now but I am guessing that a few eyebrows were raised back then because it was generally frowned upon to have a child out of wedlock. I should also perhaps explain that David may not actually have been my father.
Mother, who was an only child, was a very colourful character. Her father died when she was still quite young, having worked for Shell, while her grandfather owned a bicycle shop.
My mother had been married previously and at the end of the Second World War she met, fell in love with and ran away with a Russian prince called Nikolai Obolensky. He was a famous sportsman who was especially well known as a skier. He also played rugby union.
That all ended in tears, and thus she ended up meeting David. I came along seven months after they first got together, so you can draw your own conclusions. Either I was two months early, which is what I was told, or my father was a prince.
In any event, I never met him and grew up regarding David Goddard as my father. His family, who came from Burton on Trent, owned a number of clothing shops and were very wealthy, although my grandfather was a science master at Winchester College. My earliest memories of my grandparents are of staying in a massive schoolhouse – my grandfather, who fought in the First World War, had a private income of £7,000 a year, which was a fortune in those days.
I remember that everywhere I looked at Winchester there were boys, which was hardly surprising since it was a boys’ school. There was also a most wonderful cook called Ethel who used to produce fabulous meals. I used to stand at the railings and look down into the kitchen and watch her at work and catch all the wonderful aromas that used to gently float through the air. It was blissful.
My father, who had two b